When I was going through my food blogs a few days ago I saw that Anne's Food wrote about beetroots, Beet Carpaccio even. Since I have never done anything with beets in it, I decided that might be a good idea for Sunday tea, and an excellent goal to keep in mind when exploring Borough Market on the usual Saturday morning stroll.
Beet Carpaccio feels a bit out of my league though, so I think I will start with something fairly easy and simply bake them. Anne mentioned baked beet roots with crumbled goat's cheese and since I love goat's cheese that sounds like a perfect fit.
UPDATE: I have since I wrote this post tried a few variations of baked beet roots, recipe and description is available here.
This morning I got out of bed with a smile on my face, the sun was shining in through my window and I realised I haven't seen proper sun for weeks! It has been so dark, gloomy and crap weather here in London and the cold has really invaded everything. Today it is sunny though, and really nice and crisp air.
Walking to Borough Market from where I live takes about 20 minutes, and I think I had a smile on my lips the whole way. Playing on my iPod was The Cardigans, first Life and then while walking through the market Long Gone Before Daylight. Amazing how Nina Persson's voice has changed over the years. I love the way my iPod let's me rediscover old music, it's like meeting an old friend. Stories, memories, emotions bubble up as different songs come on. Carrying that huge amount of music around in your pocket is amazing.
Scouring the market for beet roots I quickly realised that this probably is the completely wrong time of year to try and find nice ones... What I really wanted was to find some good looking, smallish beets with the leaves still on, but no such luck. Among the three veg stalls offering beets I finally went for two bunches of beets from a small local farm. Some of them are way too big, but I guess I'll have to cut them in quarters or something.
Lovely beet roots
Originally uploaded by Manne.
To add to the fun I also got a bunch of rosemary, a bunch of chives (not sure I will use them, but we'll see) and some of the lovely French butter that we just can't get enough of. With some goat's cheese, nice bread and prosciutto I think I have all the ingredients for a nice evening tea when we get back from Jon Stewart tomorrow night.
So. Recipes. First thing I did when I read about the beets at Anne's Food was email her and ask her for her recipe on boiled or baked beets. She answered almost immediately and here is roughly what she said (translated from Swedish of course...):
Oh, it is so simple! Boiling is the easiest. Do NOT peel the beets first, just wash them, and then boil them in water with a good amount of salt. It takes some time, estimate 40 to 50 minutes. When they are done the peel will easily come off under running cold water. Then cut the root off.
When I bake them I usually peel them first and cut them in cloves. Then put them in the oven, 225°C for about 30 to 40 minutes. You can mix them with other vegetables but keep in mind that the beets are most likely the ones that will require the longest time.
Then just crumble goat's cheese on top, or make a sauce of sour cream with some goat's cheese and fresh thyme to serve with the beets.
Good luck!
Yum. Sounds lovely. Thank you so much Anne!
I am assuming that the beets are done when you prod them with a steel prong and they feel tender.
Baking it will be though. Peta said she likes to do it Jamie Oliver style, baking them in tin foil with some olive oil, balsamic vinegar and herbs. That doesn't sound half bad either... Skipping the garlic though, don't think it goes very well with the goat's cheese. Maybe the chives will work better. I'll decide tomorrow evening which it will be.
Found a bunch of information on beets through Google, and the most important tip probably is this: beets stain, I know that, and apparently te best way to get the coloring off your hands is to rub them with some wet salt, some lemon juice and then wash with soap and water.
URL: Anne's Food
URL: About.com on beet roots - information and recipes
URL: Jamie Oliver recipe for baked beet roots
URL: BBC beet root recipe by Antony Thompson
